In addition to providing sound advice on issues like financial and retirement planning, we can also help you to examine legacy issues. As your Columbus estate planning lawyer, we partner to design the strategy that will define the distribution of your possessions and money after you pass away. ​

A solid legacy plan can be especially important if you have a complex family situation involving blended families. At the law firm of Charles Bendig, we have over 30 years of experience helping people with different family structures, and we are skilled at helping clients take the right legal steps to protect everyone that they love.

What is different about an estate plans involving a blended family?

You may have children from a prior relationship and your partner may have children from a prior relationship. This can complicate your estate plan in many ways.

Many married couples will leave all of their wealth and property to each other. This not only avoids estate tax, but also simplifies the estate planning process. If you simply leave everything to your spouse, you don’t have to worry about dividing your assets among different family members, and your spouse in not deprived of shared assets during the remainder of his or her life. If you and your spouse share all of the children, you can likely assume that your spouse will leave assets to your children or grandchildren when he or she passes away. Of course, this is not a given, but it is pretty common.

f you are a member of a blended family, you and your spouse – or both – may have children from outside of the marriage. You likely want to ensure that your children are provided for in case you pass away first, but this can create complexities. If you pass away first and your estate plan indicates that your wealth transfers to your kids, your husband or wife wouldn’t be able to use those assets during the remainder of his or her life. If you left everything to your children, your spouse could also exercise his or her spousal elective share and thwart your wishes by taking a share of your property that is allowed by law. This could eventually mean that the assets your spouse inherited under the spousal elective share end up transferring to a person of your spouse’s choosing instead of to your children.

There are ways that you can make sure that your children inherit and that your spouse is still protected during his or her life. You simply need to work with an experienced attorney who understands the ins-and-outs of the estate planning process and who can help you to address any special issues that arise as a result of the fact that you are a member of a blended family.

We can help you build a solid legal directive.

Whether you are single, are married, have children or not, you should have an estate plan so you can control your legacy instead of letting default intestacy law determine what happens to all of your assets that you worked to build. For over 30 years, we have worked with Ohio families, like yours. We know the ins and outs of the estate planning process. Let's discuss your goals and make an enforceable plan to achieve them. Learn more about estate planning.